


Endless

by bloodred_ander



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - The Maze Runner Fusion, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Murder, Implied/Referenced Suicide, M/M, Minor Character Death, References to Depression, Smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-28
Updated: 2018-12-28
Packaged: 2019-09-13 08:51:00
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,096
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16889421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bloodred_ander/pseuds/bloodred_ander
Summary: Amidst all the commotion around them, Chanyeol's eyes find Suho's. He makes a face, almost pained, and shakes his head slightly, mouth curving downwards in distress.He isn't going to make it.Life in the Glade is an endless cycle and things are routine and peaceful. Until they're not.When things start changing for the worse, Suho finds himself conflicted as he has to make a choice between his relationship with Chanyeol or his duty as a leader.





	Endless

**Author's Note:**

> **Authors Note:** Hey guys, few things to keep in mind before you read this
> 
> 1) If you're familiar with the Maze Runner Series (books/movies) then you'll know that all of the main characters are teenagers. In this fic however, it would do you good to imagine Yeol and Junmyeon's ages as anything from 19-21 years old. It was what I did because I was uncomfortable writing underage sex.  
> 2) I know most people don't like reading fics where the members are referred to by their stage names but again, following the plot of Maze Runner series where the characters were given a fake name, those members that do have stage names will be referred to by such and those that don't, will be referred to by their own names.  
> 3) Apart from Exo members, all the other characters mentioned are OCs.  
> 4) No Exo members die in this fic but a few OCs do (their death isn't discussed in graphic detail).  
> 5) It is also mentioned in the fic that Junmyeon attempted suicide. Again, it isn't discussed in graphic detail but it is mentioned more than once.
> 
>  
> 
> This is based more on the movie than the book but even still I took a lot of creative liberties with the plot lol. I hope you guys enjoy reading this nonetheless (I know the tags seem scary but I promise it isn't all that bad)!!!

Suho takes a deep shuddering breath, digging his fingers into the dewy grass beneath him and grimacing as he gets mud stuck under his blunt fingernails. He gasps softly, shivering as the early morning air blows against his heated skin, cooling the sweat gathered on his brow, his neck, the arch of his back. His knees hurt a little and his arms and thighs tremble with the effort it takes to remain like this; on his hands and knees, naked and completely bared for Chanyeol.

Only for Chanyeol. _Always_.  
  
Said boy is still fully clothed and kneeling behind Suho, making him gasp and jerk and claw at the earth beneath him as he fucks him with three of his fingers, licks around his rim as he stretches him languidly. The sounds Chanyeol makes are obscene and loud in the stifling silence of the grove and it makes Suho’s heart pound erratically. He feels his chest flush as Chanyeol kneads his ass cheek with the hand that's not currently busy elsewhere, arousal a constant thrum under his skin.

But they've been like this, doing this, for a while now and Suho’s getting impatient.

The Glade is still mostly shrouded in darkness, the sky overhead only just beginning to fade from an inky black to swirling shades of indigo and purple, signaling that the others won't be up for another two hours at least. They're also pretty well hidden in their usual spot; far away from the Homestead and the Gardens, away from the prying eyes of the other boys, concealed from view by the thick trees of the Deadheads that surround them. The foliage is dense enough but Suho can't help the anxiousness that bubbles up within him at the thought that someone could chance upon them. That they could get caught.  
  
It isn't something that he wants happening anytime soon.  
  
It's not because he feels that what he and Chanyeol share is wrong; they don't keep their relationship a secret because they're ashamed of anything but because they're scared. It's difficult not to be because they are a bunch of teenage boys living together in a confined space. They are a bunch of teenage boys with quick tempers and varying personalities who have different perceptions of right and wrong even though they have no memories other than the ones that they've made here in the Glade. Suho may be the leader, the first-in-command, but he wasn’t always that, and he remembers all to clearly the circumstances that lead to him taking on the responsibility of leading the Gladers. Chanyeol had been sent up a whole year after Suho so it's only obvious that he was absent during the worst days the Gladers had witnessed. In a way, it makes Suho happy that Chanyeol and a few of the other boys  didn't have to go through what he, Luhan and many others did, but at the same time, that is one of the main reasons why Chanyeol doesn't fully understand Suho's reluctance; his reasons for wanting to keep the two of them a secret.  
  
Chanyeol had told him, on numerous occasions, that he was being stupid and that no one in the Glade would ever harm them because they’re all family but he isn't ready to take a chance. Suho is not ready to trust any of the Gladers with such intimate information yet, not when he knows what things were like initially, how the fear and doubt and helplessness got to each one of them in the worst of ways. It's been three years since but the memories of how the Gladers started turning against each other still haunts him to this day.  
  
This is the only reason that Suho really wants to keep them, their relationship, a secret. He can't – _won't_ – allow Chanyeol to risk his safety any more than he already does on a daily basis.  
  
He doesn't realize his thoughts are wondering until Chanyeol is looming over him; his large hand covering Suho's own splayed out over the grass. His clothed chest presses flush against his sweaty back, lips leaving searing, open mouthed kisses on the back of his neck and over the slope of his shoulder. Suho moans loudly when Chanyeol bites down hard on his shoulder and cants his hips forward so that he can press his clothed erection into the back of Suho's thigh.  
  
“Stop overthinking,” Chanyeol says as he licks over the mark he just made, voice low and lazy, heavy with arousal and the lingering traces of sleep. He pushes his fingers deeper into Suho, thrusting them harder and faster now, curving them to brush against that special place inside of him over and over and over until he's mewling pathetically and his breathing is labored. Suho hangs his head, unable to think of anything now apart from the pleasure coursing through his veins like liquid fire and how he wants more. Wants everything that Chanyeol is willing to give him.  
  
“C-Chanyeol,” he whispers, voice high pitched and desperate, hips pushing back against Chanyeol's fingers. “Chanyeol, _please_. P-please, pleas -”  
  
Suho chokes on a moan when Chanyeol thrusts his fingers in deep, pressing against his swollen bundle of nerves at the same time he bites down on the base of his neck, sucking what is sure to be a spectacular bruise into his skin. His fingers twitch on the grass, the urge to touch himself, to bring himself to completion, is overwhelming. His dick is so hard that it's almost painful at this point. Chanyeol seems to sense his growing agitation because he's immediately pushing away, fingers still thrusting in and out of Suho's hole as his other hand comes to wrap around his erection.  
  
“Stay with me,” Chanyeol urges as he begins to stroke him off in rough, hurried strokes, squeezing the head of Suho's dick on every upstroke, just the way he likes. Suho moans, body moving so that he can alternate between thrusting his hips back against Chanyeol’s fingers to get them in deeper and bucking forward so that he can fuck into the tight fist wrapped around his dick. Suho squeezes his eyes shut, toes curling, fingers digging harder into the moist earth beneath him, back arching as he moans and whimpers and mewls. He can feel himself about to tip over the edge, knows that he won't last much longer because he's so wound up.  
  
“It's okay,” Chanyeol whispers as he kisses the dimples on the small of Suho's back, nipping lightly at his skin there. “I'm here, I've got you. It's okay.”  
  
It takes a few more strokes, fingers relentlessly pushing into him and Chanyeol whispering encouragements as he kisses along the base of Suho's spine for him to finally find his sweet release. He trembles as he coats Chanyeol's hand with thick spurts of white and watches in weird fascination as it drips messily onto the grass below him. He moans brokenly, stutters out Chanyeol's name as the other boy milks him through his orgasm, squeezing his dick and fucking him with his fingers until Suho starts whimpering and squirming, body wracked with over sensitivity.  
  
Chanyeol moves his hand away from Suho's dick and wipes it on the grass beside them, cleaning most of the cum off before he wipes his hand clean on his pants. He then carefully pulls his fingers out of Suho's hole, chuckling slightly when Suho grumbles a little, body trembling, still coming down from his high.  
  
“Not yet,” Chanyeol warns when Suho tries to lower himself down onto his elbows, arms burning with the strain of holding his weight up. Suho grumbles again but he can't help the way his spent dick twitches weakly in excitement. Chanyeol smooth’s his hands – both wiped clean on his clothes – down Suho's sides, caressing his pale skin as he kisses his way up Suho's back to his neck, mouthing over the mark he made just minutes ago.  
  
“Chanyeol,” Suho sighs, smiling slightly when Chanyeol noses at his right ear before kissing it. “We need to hurry up.”  
  
Chanyeol clicks his tongue at the reminder, kissing behind Suho's ear as he fists a hand in his hair and uses his grip to pull Suho's head up and turn his face to the side so that he can finally capture his lips in a gentle kiss. Suho hums into the kiss, smiles a little when Chanyeol licks over his lips, parts them so that the younger can lick into his mouth.  
  
“No we don't,” Chanyeol says once they break apart, smiling at the pink flush on Suho's cheeks. He kisses his cheeks gently before he brings their lips together in a kiss again. This one a little dirtier, a little more desperate, as Chanyeol sucks on his tongue and moans into his mouth, bites at his bottom lip so hard that Suho's scared he's going to draw blood.  
  
“Yes, we do,” Suho says softly against Chanyeol's lips, pulling away from him to catch his breath. Above them, the sky already seems brighter. Suho understands why Chanyeol wants to draw this out, he really does, he knows that they never get the chance to just indulge and enjoy the time they spend together but they can't. Not when Chanyeol has to be getting ready to go out into the Maze soon and Suho has to see to it that the other Gladers don't slack off and do their respective jobs for the day.  
  
“The boys will be up soon and somebody could see us,” he reminds gently, letting his lips brush against Chanyeol's.  
  
Chanyeol sighs and stands up, pulling away from Suho completely. “I kinda wish they would,” he says as he strips out of his shirt, throwing it down onto the grass aggressively. “At least then we won't have to sneak around anymore and I won't have to pretend that it doesn't bother me, the way that shucking Greenie looks at you.”  
  
Suho frowns, his heart growing heavy in his chest at the distress that is so clearly visible on Chanyeol's face. He sits back on his haunches, hands falling into his lap as he looks up at the younger boy. Chanyeol runs a hand through his thick black hair, messing it up even further as he huffs out an annoyed breath.  
  
“I just, I don't trust Kris,” Chanyeol says after a while of silence, face twisting into what can only be called a grimace. “It's only been two days but things have been weird ever since he got here. First with Jay getting stung by a Griever in broad daylight and then yesterday with him attacking Kris and _only_ him and saying all that stuff. I really don't–” he breaks off with a frustrated groan, dropping to his knees in front of Suho. Chanyeol pulls him into his arms, buries his nose into Suho's hair as he takes deep breaths to calm himself down. Suho holds him close, runs one hand through Chanyeol's hair while the other rubs his back.  
  
“I can't lose you,” Chanyeol whispers, sounding scared, as he pulls back to stare into his eyes. Suho ignores the way his own eyes sting, the way his chest constricts, choosing instead to smile softly, shaking his head as he pulls Chanyeol in for a kiss, his heart hammering against his rib cage.  
  
“I’m not going anywhere, Chanyeol,” Suho assures as he pulls away from the kiss. “I’m always going to be here for you.”  
  
Chanyeol gives him a half smile, cheeks dimpling but eyes serious as he asks, “Just for me?”  
  
“Only for you,” he affirms, sliding his arms around Chanyeol's neck as he leans in to kiss him again.

When Chanyeol pushes him down on his back, Suho goes easily, laying on the grass and spreading his legs wide to accommodate a now naked Chanyeol as he settles between them. They share desperate, filthy kisses as Chanyeol grinds their erections together and Suho moans into Chanyeol's mouth, scratches at his back. He comes for the second time that morning with Chanyeol's lips wrapped around his dick as he swallows down his release, head bobbing and cheeks hollowed.  
  
By the time Chanyeol finally, finally, pushes into him, Suho is loose and pliant, legs hanging open and eyes hazy and unfocused. He doesn't even complain at the amount of petroleum jelly Chanyeol uses even though he knows he'll feel gross and sticky later. He just gasps and moans as Chanyeol thrusts into him, fucks him nice and deep as he keeps a bruising hold on his thighs.  
  
Suho begs Chanyeol to kiss him, to mark him, to fuck him harder, faster, until there are tears pooling in his eyes and rolling down his cheeks, until his body jolts every time Chanyeol brushes against his over sensitized bundle of nerves, whines when he pinches his nipples and tugs on them harshly. He begs Chanyeol for more and more and more until he's sobbing as Chanyeol fucks him through his third orgasm. He digs his nails into Chanyeol's back as the younger boy chases his own high, thrusting into Suho at a maddening pace, making him twitch and writhe and whimper as the aftershocks of his orgasm soon give way from pleasure to pain.  
  
When Chanyeol finally reaches his peak, he spills deep into him and fills him up with his cum. Suho's barely coherent at this point, breathing heavily, eyes closed, mind a cloud of pleasure and limbs heavy laden. Suho lays limp on the grass, floating in and out of consciousness as Chanyeol pulls out and flops down beside him, panting heavily as he wraps his arms around him and pulls him close, stroking his hair.  
  
  
  
Suho blinks his eyes open slowly, squinting up at a significantly brighter sky. He panics for a second before he feels the heavy weight of Chanyeol's arm around his waist and his fingers combing gently through his hair. He sighs and forces himself to relax.  
  
“How long?” Suho asks, not surprised at how scratchy his voice sounds. Chanyeol just hums and pulls him closer to press a kiss to the top of his head. Chanyeol squeezes him in his arms, snorting unattractively when Suho jabs him with an elbow.  
  
“Not very long,” Chanyeol informs him, as he rubs his face into Suho's hair, his need for physical contact increasing tenfold. “You were out cold though, didn't even wake up when I was dressing you. Scared the _klunk_ out of me.”  
  
Suho laughs dryly. “You tired me out.”  
  
“Hmm,” Chanyeol hums, content, and when Suho turns to look at him he's got the most infuriatingly smug smile on his face. Suho frowns and smacks him on his chest, grimacing when his hands come in contact with something sticky. He pulls away immediately, sitting up and wiping his hand on a clean part of Chanyeol's shirt as the other giggles obnoxiously.  
  
“ _Chanyeol_!”  
  
“I had nothing else to clean you with,” Chanyeol defends himself, groaning as he stretches out on the grass, long limbs splayed in all directions as he lays flat on his back.  
  
“Disgusting,” Suho grumbles but he's smiling as he looks down at Chanyeol, eyes closed, lips curved up into a tiny, satisfied smile as the sky above them brightens up in shades of pink and orange. Sometimes Suho doesn't understand how he got so lucky. He doesn't understand why Chanyeol chose to return his feelings in the first place, doesn't get what he sees in him. He’s broken, in more ways than one and certainly unworthy of Chanyeol’s love. And yet here Chanyeol is, looking content and happy, like he wouldn't want to be anywhere else but beside Suho. He just hopes that it stays that way for as long as possible.  
  
“We really should head back now,” Suho says after a while of silently observing Chanyeol in the soft light of dawn. Chanyeol makes a face, jutting his bottom lip out in a pout, closed eyelids fluttering in annoyance.  
  
“You should go first,” he grumbles and Suho knows that it's because he would much rather walk back together but they can’t do that for obvious reasons. “D.O’s probably up already looking for you. You know how he gets pissy if there's no one around to help him prepare breakfast in the morning.”  
  
Suho frowns at the bitterness colouring Chanyeol's tone, subtle but still noticeable. He thinks about something to say to ease the younger boy's mind but eventually decides against it because he knows Chanyeol all too well and saying something now would only result in an argument that he'd rather not have, not this early and especially not now, when they have so many other things to worry about. Suho sighs and pushes himself up on shaky legs, wincing at the twinge of pain that shoots up his spine. There are days where he’s grateful that he isn’t a Runner anymore because Chanyeol’s enthusiasm always ends up leaving them both a little winded and worse for wear, Suho even more so.  
  
“I’ll head back first then,” he says softly, hesitantly, looking down at Chanyeol’s sleepy face. “Please don’t fall asleep, Chanyeol. The doors will be opening soon and it’ll probably be better if you and Luhan get an early start.”  
  
“Don't worry,” Chanyeol says, shoulders moving awkwardly as he attempts to shrug while still lying down. “I’ll be ready before the doors open. Make sure your precious second-in-command is ready though. His sorry ass hasn’t been out in the Maze in forever.”  
  
Suho scoffs and nudges Chanyeol’s thigh with his foot, worry prickling at the back of his mind at the thought of Luhan going out into the Maze again. “Go easy on him, Yeol.”  
  
“I will,” Chanyeol promises with a dismissive wave of his hand before he snaps his eyes open suddenly. “Hey, do you think I could get a fresh set of clothes? These are… well, they kinda stink now, so.”  
  
“Sure,” Suho says after some deliberation, taking in the sorry state of Chanyeol’s clothes and figuring that it’ll be okay to spare him a new set.  
  
“I’ll leave them in your room,” he says, referring to the room Chanyeol and D.O share in the Homestead.  
  
“Thanks Suho,” Chanyeol says with a wide smile, almond eyes crinkling and left cheek hollowing out into a pretty dimple. “You’re the best.”  
  
“Of course,” Suho rolls his eyes but he can’t stop the way his own lips curve upwards in response to Chanyeol’s brilliant smile. He turns around, limping away as he slowly makes his way back to the Homestead, hoping to catch D.O before he makes his way over to the Blood House to gather eggs to get started on breakfast because Chanyeol is right – the cook does get cranky when he has no one around to help.  
  
“Is your leg okay?” Chanyeol suddenly calls out after him, concern easy to hear in his voice. Suho’s shoulders stiffen but he doesn't turn around, just continues walking, waving away Chanyeol’s concern.  
  
“It’s fine,” he says curtly. “Remember to be ready before the doors open or I’ll send D.O after you.”  
  
Chanyeol makes a disgruntled sound but calls out an affirmative, his deep laugh following after Suho as he leaves the younger boy alone in the Deadheads. Suho smiles even as he forces himself to swallow down the bitterness he feels as old memories that he’d much rather forget float to the forefront of his mind.  
  
His past, much like the Maze that surrounds them, is something that he will never truly escape from. Not when he's reminded of it every single day.

 

 

 

  
“Is Luhan a runner too?”  
  
Suho sighs tiredly, putting down his axe so that he can give the Greenie a baleful look. His arms are hurting anyways, so he may as well take a break from chopping wood to indulge Kris a little more.  
  
“No,” Suho says, “he isn’t.”  
  
Kris makes a face and Suho has to physically stop himself from rolling his eyes as he waits for the next question to be thrown at him. From somewhere beside him, Lee snorts loudly as he continues chopping away.  
  
“Then why did Luhan go out into the Maze with Chanyeol?” Kris asks. “I thought only Runners were allowed to go out into the Maze.”  
  
Suho chews on his bottom lip before deciding that he shouldn’t really be hiding things from Kris, not when it concerns him as well since technically, he is one of them now.  
  
“All the other Runners quit,” Suho says softly, irritation flaring up as he thinks about how he and Luhan, along with Chanyeol, had try to convince the rest of the Runners to go back out into the Maze. He had tried his best to assure them that what happened with Jay was an isolated incident that probably wouldn’t happen again, but the other boys had decided that they didn’t want to take the risk anymore and well, Suho couldn’t exactly force them to go out into the Maze if they didn’t want to, especially if it meant putting their lives in danger – more so than it already was in the first place. But Suho needed answers and if it wasn’t for his busted leg he would have gone out into the Maze himself with Chanyeol even if he knew the other would protest tooth and nail against that decision. In the end it was Luhan who volunteered to go out with Chanyeol and retrace Jay’s steps to try and figure out what went wrong and why, for the first time in three years, a Runner was stung in broad daylight by a Griever. Suho didn’t exactly want to say yes but what other choice did he have?  
  
“They quit?” Kris asks softly, eyes flickering nervously. “Is it because of what happened with Jay yesterday?”  
  
Suho feels a pang at the mention of Jay and he tries his best not to think about how the other boy had begged and stared at them through watery, bloodshot eyes as they had cast him out into the Maze just before the doors could close for the night. Jay’s banishment may have been a hard decision for the Keepers to make but he had broken one of the three rules of the Glade – _never harm another Glader_ – and as such, he had to be banished. In the end, it didn’t matter if Jay was stung by a Griever and had been going through the changing; the venom that had infected him had already been turning him delirious and he was a danger to himself as well as the others. He had also broken a rule and he had to face the consequences. It was something Suho, Luhan, and all of the other Keepers agreed on, no matter how much it pained them to do so – the rules were the only thing helping them maintain peace in the Glade after all.  
  
“Yes it is,” Lee is the one who answers Kris’ question, throwing down his own axe and wiping the sweat off his brow with the back of his hand. “He broke a rule, he had to be punished. It’s the way things work around here newbie so you better get used to that. Wouldn't want to banish your sorry ass as well.”  
  
Kris is silent for a while, clearly not seeing the humour behind Lee's joke even if Suho himself did end up huffing out a laugh. Suho watches, amused, as the muscles in Kris' jaw work as he mulls over his next question. He waits patiently, hands on his hips as he stares at Kris who seems to be enjoying watching the others work while he sits on his ass and does nothing. If Suho wasn't so worried about the safety of Luhan and Chanyeol, he probably would have been more stern with the Greenie.  
  
“Something wasn’t right with Jay,” Kris says finally, pulling at the grass beside his feet. He glances at the open doors in the distance before looking back at Suho, expression shuttered. “He looked… _off_. Acted like a psycho trying to kill me and shit.”

Suho braces himself for the question that he knows is coming next. He’s surprised that Kris didn’t ask him, or anyone else, about it earlier but he did look pretty shaken up after Jay had almost tried to kill him so Suho figures that the poor guy’s just been taking his time trying to come to terms with what happened to him yesterday. There are certain things that a newbie shouldn’t have to witness on just his second day in the Glade and nearly being choked to death by someone is one of them.  
  
“What happened to him?” Kris asks softly, almost as if he doesn’t want to hear the answer.  
  
Suho swallows thickly and forces a shrug, stomach lurching as he thinks about Jay's pallid skin and the sickly black veins that were so pronounced, branching out from the place where the sting had pierced the flesh of his stomach and running along his arms and his neck. He thinks about the way he tackled Kris to the ground and dug his fingers into the delicate skin of his throat, choking him with strength that looked almost inhumane as he yelled out things that made absolutely no sense at all. Suho hates to think about what would have happened if Sehun didn’t reach Jay on time and pull him off of Kris. Lee shifts uncomfortably beside him, no doubt thinking about the same thing.  
  
“We call it the Changing,” Suho informs Kris, sharing a glance with Lee before turning back to stare at Kris, trying to ignore the strange sense of familiarity he feels as he gazes into dark brown eyes. “It’s what happens when somebody gets stung by a Griever. That’s probably why he tried to”– he makes a vague gesture, lets the words _kill you_ go unsaid because Kris probably doesn’t need to hear that right now. “That Griever venom messes with your head and shit. It’s poison, ya’know? Kills you slowly and painfully.”  
  
Kris hums, looking back at the doors again, curling his hands into fists. “Is he… what happened after? Will he come back?”  
  
Suho freezes up completely and so does Lee. Even Kris seems to sense that he's touched on a sore topic if the contrite look on his face is anything to go by. “He ain’t coming back,” Suho says, matter-of-fact, even if it pains him to do so. “Not now, not ever. It’s like I told you, no one survives a night in the Maze.”  
  
Kris frowns, pressing his closed fists into the grass as he stares down at his tattered shoes. Suho takes pity on him, knowing through experience that the first week in the Glade is always the toughest and Kris has already been through more than what any of them had during their first few days in the Glade.  
  
“Look Greenie,” he says as he walks over to Kris, looking down at him with what he hopes is a comforting smile. A brief memory flashes in his mind of Chanyeol calling him a bunny when he first smiled at the other boy and Suho has to physically fight the blush that threatens to colour his cheeks. He wonders if he looks like a bunny to Kris right now and then promptly cringes at the thought. “How about you stop asking questions that you aren’t going to like hearing the answers to, yeah? Maybe you could just get off your ass and do some work instead. Make yourself useful, ya’know?”

Kris looks like he wants to argue – and Suho kind of wants him to, just so he can put him in his place – but he gives in eventually, standing up and dusting himself off. Like this, their height difference is glaringly obvious with Kris looming over him. Suho is almost inclined to say that the Greenie looks intimidating; with his thick brows seemingly drawn together in a permanent frown and his eyes, serious and cold – _calculating_ – as they take in his surroundings. He would actually even be a little terrified of the Greenie had he not seen him trip over his own two feet and eat dirt just two days ago as he tried to sprint away from the Gladers who pulled him out of the Box. Kris almost reminds Suho of Chanyeol in that sense – both are giants, both are equally intimidating to look at but spend a day with them and you'd realize that their personalities are the complete opposite of what you'd expect; Chanyeol is soft, jovial, and friendly, overly so, and Kris is very laidback more so than his cold demeanor suggests. Gentle giants, the both of them.  
  
Kris walks past Suho and picks up the axe he left on the ground and turns towards the pile of wood that Suho had been working on with a determined look on his face.  
  
“There you go,” Lee cheers, face breaking out into a wide smile as he walks over to Kris to pat him on the back. “Let’s put those big hands of yours to good use now, yeah? Who knows newbie, if you're good at this then maybe I could consider taking you under my wing. You could till the soil, plant some seeds, fertilizer the fields and shit. Good stuff, eh?”  
  
Suho laughs, shoulders relaxing as he looks at the disapproving scowl on Kris' face. He walks up to where the other two boys are working and starts sorting the wood into neat piles, occasionally guiding Kris to make sure that he doesn’t cause any unfortunate accidents as they chop away at the wood. Lee spends the rest of their time together answering Kris’ stupid questions with equally ridiculous answers, making Suho laugh and providing a temporary distraction from the worry that is constantly nagging at the back of his mind. 

The rest of the morning goes by rather quickly, with Suho dragging Kris along to try out a few more jobs once they're done chopping and stacking up all the firewood. The rest of the Gladers don't seem to mind Kris’ presence, even finding his constant questions amusing. The only two people that are actually somewhat irked by the newbie's presence are Abe, the Keeper of the Builders who seems to share Chanyeol's sentiment about something being _wrong_ with Kris, and D.O, who, to be fair, has a problem with anyone who tries to mess with him while he's cooking.  
  
Kris takes everything in stride though, even laughing along with Xiumin and Kai as they make fun of him for dropping a plank of wood on his own foot as he tries to help out the Builders in their repair work around the Glade.  
  
Kris doesn’t complain as he works but he’s distracted as usual, asking question after question until Suho’s had enough and threatens to lock him in the Slammer if he so much as opens his mouth again. To his credit, Kris does manage, albeit with great difficulty, to work quietly for the rest of the morning until it’s time for lunch.  
  
Suho expects a lot of questions during lunch but unsurprisingly, one look from D.O has Kris snapping his mouth shut so fast that his teeth click together. He's a little grateful for the silence but at the same time, answering Kris’ questions has kept Suho from falling prey to his own thoughts all morning. Thoughts that mainly focus on how suddenly things have changed within the last three days and how Chanyeol may have been right about Kris. It also has a lot to do with the things Jay had shouted at them as they had dragged him towards the open doors. He had been delirious so that’s why most of the other boys had just brushed off what he said but Suho couldn’t simply forget his words, not when he kept yelling out that the only reason they were trapped in the Maze in the first place was because of Kris and that everything was his fault. Suho doesn’t see how all of this could be Kris’ fault but something tells him that he shouldn’t write off Jay’s words so soon.

 

Apart from what happened with Jay yesterday however, Kris hasn’t seemed to be anything out of the ordinary. There is the fact that he just won't stop asking questions unlike the others who simply accepted what they were told and moved on with their lives, trying their best to fit in and find a place for themselves here in the Glade, Kris is too curious for his own good and definitely not someone that seems very keen on following instructions. Something that seems to bother their resident, hot-head, Abe, to no end and has also managed to put Chanyeol on edge.

“I don't think Abe likes me,” is what Kris says to Suho as they make their way over to the Garden once again to lend a helping hand. Kris had wanted to work with the Builders again but judging by how clumsy he was and how close Abe came to almost losing his cool at having him around, Suho had decided that it was best if they didn’t work together. At least not anytime soon.  
  
“He doesn't,” Suho says, deadpan, feeling a little sluggish after enjoying a heavy lunch. “But Abe's like that with every newbie. He's just a little rough around the edges. If you follow the rules and do your part around the Glade then Abe will warm up to you pretty soon.”  
  
“I’ve done nothing but he’s still an ass to me,” Kris points out, swinging his arms as he walks, eyeing the open doors once again. Suho can’t help but follow his gaze too, anxiousness immediately returning as he thinks about Chanyeol and Luhan. He tears his gaze away.  
  
“It’s ‘cause you tried to run out into the Maze like a shucking lunatic on your first day here,” Suho says, thinking back to the first evening where Kris had walked up to the open doors, curious and stubborn as he insisted that he just wanted to " _take a look_ ", to know what was behind those 200 feet looming structures made of concrete and steel and why everyone kept telling him that he couldn’t go beyond those walls. If it wasn’t for Abe who pushed Kris away right on time, the idiot would have walked right out into the Maze just as the doors were about to close for the night.  
  
“I wasn’t going to run out there,” Kris defends, scowling. “Like I said, I was just taking a look before that muscled pig tackled me to the ground out of nowhere.”  
  
Suho rolls his eyes at how petulant Kris sounds, almost laughing at his description of Abe which is surprisingly accurate. Abe may not be all that gifted in terms of height like Kris or Chanyeol or Sehun, but he is built like a tank thanks to all the heavy duty work he does as a Builder. “He saved your life,” Suho tells him, glancing up to see the scowl on Kris’ face deepen.  
  
“Whatever,” Kris grumbles, huffing out an annoyed breath before tilting his head to look down at Suho. “What if I wanted to be a Runner though? Would I be allowed into the Maze then?”  
  
Suho blanches at first before doubling over in a bout of hysterical laughter.  
  
“Are you serious?” He asks Kris as he straightens up, eyes wide. “Nobody wants to be a Runner!”

"What if I want to?” Kris challenges, turning his body so that he's facing Suho entirely, staring him down with a defiantly.

Suho runs his fingers through his short hair, tugging on the dark strands in frustration.

“Being a Runner ain't a walk in the park, Greenie,” he says, shaking his head slowly. “You need to be fast as well as strong. You need to have a ridiculous amount of stamina 'cause you're going to be running the Maze all day. You need to be able to remember what you see out there. The Runners run the Maze day after day trying to memorize it, to map it out. They are the ones responsible for trying to find us a way out of the Maze, alright?”

Suho scoffs, eyes darting towards the doors.

“Nobody's even become a Runner in their first month here at the Glade,” he jabs a finger at Kris’ chest. “You've barely been here three days, Greenie. What makes you think we're even going to let you be a Runner?”

Kris looks towards the doors as well, throat working as he swallows thickly and Suho tries not to look at the bruises marring Kris' skin even if the worst of it is covered by his shoulder length black hair.

“What do I have to do to be a Runner then?” he asks, making Suho groan out loud.

“Aren't you hearing what I'm saying?” Suho's voice cracks a little, desperation bleeding into his tone. “You can't be a Runner.”

“Why not?” Kris snaps back, looking genuinely frustrated as he glares down at him.

“I just told you why!” Suho yells, resisting the urge to push against the Greenie's chest.  _Why won't he just shucking listen?_

“You talk like you know what being a Runner's like,” Kris accuses suddenly, crossing his arms over his chest. “Were you a Runner?”

Suho's mouth hangs open in shock, eyes going wide as he takes an involuntary step away from Kris. His fingers tremble as he digs them into his palms and the dull ache in his left ankle flares up in intensity as if to forcefully remind him of the times he'd much rather forget about.

He was a Runner, yes, but it certainly wasn't by choice.

 

Suho was sent up in the Box almost three years ago, terrified and trembling as he was helped out of there by the only two boys that were sent up before him. He had cried a whole lot on that first day especially when he found that he couldn’t remember anything other than his name and somehow even that didn't feel right. The other two boys tried their best to comfort him but they were equally terrified and clueless, surviving the two months that went past under a makeshift tent that they had set up and on the few fruits and vegetables and other supplies that were sent up in the Box. None of them knew what to do or what was happening. Things had been pretty hopeless up until the fifth month when a boy called Max was sent up. He was the same as them and yet different; he was terrified but he didn’t cry and waste away like the others, choosing instead to take it upon himself to be responsible for everyone else. It was a good thing because Max was willing to lead them and help them get started on setting up a life that would be a little more comfortable. His two main objectives were to survive the best way they could with what they were given and to find a way out of this place they were trapped in no matter what.

The others were quick to follow his instructions, ready to follow a routine, to work, to do anything just to get their minds off of the fact that they were stuck here, in this place, surrounded by high, imposing walls on four sides with seemingly no escape. For the first time in five months, Suho finally felt hopeful. Just like the others, he really believed that Max would be the one to make sense of what was happening and help them find a way to escape.

Max had started out being the best example of a leader by helping build a somewhat crude society. They set up the Gardens for planting and growing their own food making use of the supplies they had been stockpiling. The Homestead – a building that barely held together – was built to function as their shelter with enough bedrooms for all five of them and more, including an area for showers, a bathroom and a kitchen. Next they set up the Blood House, a barn like area in the southeast of the Glade where they reared and slaughtered the livestock that previously roamed freely around the Glade because no one had the stomach to kill those animals even if it was for food. They had done all this in a surprisingly quick amount of time guided by Max and his strange knack of knowing what to do in every single situation. So by the time Luhan arrived at the Glade a whole eight months after the first boy was sent up, the place felt a little less dreary and a little more like home. Or something similar to it at least because no one could even remember if they ever had a home before this.

It was also around this time that things started changing.

Since shelter and food were the primary concerns at the time, none of the boys had really paid all that much attention to the single set of doors that opened at dawn everyday and closed at dusk. They were curious, sure, to know what was out there but no one had ever had the courage to venture beyond those doors. But now with their primary concerns taken care of, Max decided that they should tackle the next objective on the list – to find a way out of here. And the only way to seemingly do this was by taking a look at what lay beyond those doors. It couldn't be anything good, that much they all agreed if the wailing and screeching they heard every night was anything to go by, but Max was insistent that their only chance at escape was somewhere out there just waiting to be found.

Thus started the concept of Runners.

At first, it started out as a groups of boys going past those doors every morning, to scope out what they very soon realised was a gigantic Maze with seemingly endless paths, and return every evening before the doors closed. Then, realising that they weren't making much progress at all traveling in such big groups, Max had taken it upon himself to split them up further into pairs – six boys split into three groups and each diverging to look through different sections and map them out as they went – and that's how Suho and Luhan had been paired up. Since there were still a small group of boys, almost everyone back then was a Runner, even Suho, weak and frail as he was, was forced to stumble along the shadowy corridors of the maze, boots crunching over the damp ground and fingers clutching at ivy covered walls in fear. Being out in the Maze was only slightly more bearable because of the presence of Luhan; the older boy, with his soft smile and doe eyes and even softer presence, was a comfort for Suho who was still as terrified as the day he woke up in the Box. As long as he had Luhan, Suho felt like he could work just fine, mapping out the ground that they had covered in the Maze with shaky but efficient fingers. But even by working in pairs and splitting up to cover more ground, they still weren't making as much progress as Max would have liked and that's when he made the decision to split them up for good; six boys running different sections of the Maze completely alone. No one had taken the news kindly but reluctantly, after much persuasion from Max, they had agreed it was for the best.

Everyone but Suho, of course.

He had pleaded with Max and had begged for him to reconsider with tear filled eyes. Suho had offered to work back at the Glade doing just about anything, as long as Max didn't send him out into the Maze on his own but Max had refused. His reasoning was that Suho was already familiar with the Maze and would do better than a newbie out there, even if he wasn't the strongest or the fastest or the bravest, he still had a better shot out there than a Greenie fresh out of the Box. Suho understood Max and even agreed with him to some extent but he couldn't be out there in the Maze alone because he was weak; not so much physically as he was mentally –  _emotionally_ – falling prey to his own thoughts and fears day after day. It didn't make much of a difference in the end whether Suho was out in the Maze or back in the Glade, the helplessness that he had been feeling since day one had only intensified over time and he was falling apart even if he couldn't exactly tell anyone else that. And being out in the Maze just made everything worse for him but Suho, having no other choice but to listen, carried out his part just like Max wanted him to; running the Maze with slow, unsure, steps and burning lungs as he tried his best not to break down, mapping out the sections he had covered with tear filled eyes as his heart pounded in his ears, quiet sobs sounding extremely loud in the deafening silence of the Maze. Every day he felt more reluctant to step out into the Maze but he forced himself to do so even if he had no idea why he was even trying anymore – and every evening, he felt even more reluctant to return but he did so anyways because the thought of being trapped in the Maze for a night, alone no less, seemed even worse than being trapped in the Glade.

A fear that was compounded when one of the Runners didn't return back to the Glade on time before the doors closed for the night.

Suho remembers spending that entire night tossing and turning in his bed, listening to the grating sound of concrete and metal as the Maze shifted and changed. He remembers stiffening in fear and panic – his anxiety heightened tenfold that night – every time he heard the shrill wail of a Griever – the name they had given the monsters  that no doubt roamed the Maze after dusk – cut through the still silence of the night, wondering if Danny, their youngest Runner at only fifteen, would make it back in the morning or if he would fall prey to whatever horrors lay out there in the Maze. Danny didn't return though. Not the next day, or even the day after that, and just like that, their small group of ten boys had been reduced to nine. They had searched for him, of course, but to no avail and eventually, with heavy hearts, they had accepted that he wasn't ever coming back.

Danny was the first boy they lost but he wasn't the last and that was what had sent everything spiraling downhill.

When a new Greenie – Suho loathes even thinking of him – came up the next month, Max had immediately tasked Luhan with showing him the ropes of being a Runner since they were in desperate need of one more. Scared and lost, the panicked newbie hadn't taken it well. Convinced that Max was just selfishly pushing everyone to their deaths, and that he had no right to tell them what to do anyways, the newbie had somehow managed to convince two other Gladers that Max needed to be gotten rid of. And that's exactly what they did; dragging Max into the Deadheads in the thick of the night to do away with him while the others slept soundly, blissfully unaware of what was happening. The next day had been chaos, with the five Runners – including Suho and Luhan – running out into the Maze with no clue about what happened and returning to find a teary-eyed and ashen looking Abe waiting for them by the doors. It was, as fate would have it, the young Builder that had found Max’s body clumsily buried under a pile of dirt deep in a corner of the Deadheads. The normally quiet and jovial builder had struggled through his tears as he told them of what happened to their leader, his _best friend_. It wasn’t hard to connect all the dots but Brad, the then Keeper of the Runners, had suggested to continue to play dumb just for that night and wait until the morning to decide what to do. The decision was tough to make but it was also for the best and eventually, it was a group of six boys versus the other three as they forcefully shoved them out into the Maze just as the doors closed for the night. That had been the event to change a lot of them for good – most notably Abe, the young boy turning into a recluse as he refused to get over the death of his best friend and move on, turning distrustful of anyone and everyone, especially any new Greenie that showed up.

Suho had been affected as well, much more so than any of the others realized. He had relied so heavily on Max, so sure that the older boy would somehow find them a way out of the Maze that losing him had shattered every last hope of survival Suho had had. The fact that Max had been hurt by those closest to him had Suho spending the next few days in a state of constant paranoia, trusting no one but Luhan and even then only to a certain extent. He kept getting worse, thoughts plagued by fear and panic when he was awake and dreams filled with nightmares when he tried to sleep. Luhan was probably the only one who noticed and tried his best to comfort Suho but it wasn’t enough and he couldn’t be by his side all the time, especially now that the remaining few boys had doubled their efforts to try and find a way out of the Maze. It was because of this that Suho constantly found himself falling deeper and deeper into despair and one morning, after he had woken up from a particularly terrifying nightmare, Suho had finally accepted the harsh reality that there was no escape from this place, that they were going to be stuck here forever with no way out.

He isn’t proud of it, now that he thinks back on what he did that particular day to try and make himself a way out, but it is something that he has to live with forever. He did get better after that even if it did take him a long time. He was left with a badly healed broken ankle after that incident and that left him with a permanent limp, making sure of it that his role as a Runner was over for good. On Brad’s urging, Luhan gave up on being a Runner as well and stayed behind to make sure that Suho took his time to heal and didn't overwork himself as he helped with menial tasks around the Glade. Somehow, as months passed by and the number of Gladers gradually increased from six, to eight, to twelve – with Chanyeol showing up somewhere along the way, all long limbs and bitter tears as he glued himself to Suho's side – it fell upon Suho to comfort the newbies first and then show them around the Glade once they had calmed down and help them pick out a job. That’s how when the time came to decide on a leader again, after the number of Gladers had significantly increased, all the other Keepers voted for Suho to take up that role since he was already the person greeting and helping the new boys settle in. Suho had been hesitant but the vote had been unanimous and thus the decision had been made. And since Suho and Luhan were rarely ever found without the other following close behind, it seemed like a logical choice to make Luhan the second-in-command.

They’ve come a long way since then, their dark past only making them stronger, but it’s still something that no one likes talking about and something that most of the newer boys don’t know at all, the older ones choosing to spare them the sordid details of the past in an attempt to help preserve the innocence they still have within them. In that exact same way, not everyone knows about what happened with Suho except for Luhan, Lay and Chanyeol (Suho had told the younger boy himself because he didn’t want to keep secrets from him), and Suho much prefers to keep it that way. After all, who would want to follow a leader who was weak?

 

So with Kris standing here before him, asking questions that dig at barely healed wounds and trudge up memories that he’s tried so hard to bury, Suho feels like he’s practically being stripped apart, flesh from bones, as Kris stares at him with a look that feels too knowing and too judgmental.

 

In the end it’s Lee who notices Suho standing there looking like he’s just seen a ghost and bounds over to his leader’s rescue.

“Hey green bean,” Lee calls out to Kris as he hurries over to where the two of them are standing, shooting a worried glance at Suho who barely seems to register his presence. “So you finally decided on being a Track-hoe, eh? It’s a good choice. At least beats being a Slicer or a Med-jack. Definitely beats being a Runner.”

And it’s like Lee has said the magic words. Suho flinches, face souring as he turns to glare at Lee. Lee holds up his hands in a placating manner, looking apologetic as he glances from Suho to Kris and back again.

“What’s so bad about being a Runner?” Kris asks but thankfully he directs his question at Lee, somehow sensing that Suho wasn’t going to give him an answer anytime soon.  
  
“Literally everything,” Lee answers immediately, eyebrows shooting up in clear surprise, “but most of all Grievers. You saw what happened to Jay because he got stung by one. Imagine meeting one face to face and having nowhere to run to.”  
  
Lee is silent for a few seconds, letting his words sink in and allowing time for Kris to conjure up a mental image that’s no doubt unpleasant, judging by the look on his face.  
  
“That’s exactly what happens if a Runner doesn’t make it back before those doors close for the night,” Lee points a finger at the open doors for emphasis. “They get stuck out there with these nasty ass monsters in a Maze that keeps changing every few hours. Because that’s what happens at night – the Maze changes. You’ve probably even heard it happening on your first two nights here. So yeah, no one wants to be a Runner. Especially not a Greenie who has no idea what the Maze even looks like and could get lost in there in a second and not find his way back before dusk.”

Suho watches Kris chew in his bottom lip, clearly lost in thought as he looks off into the distance. He has no idea why Kris is so intent on being a Runner and neither does he want to find out, the only thing Suho knows is that it's not going to happen anytime soon. Certainly not with the way things are right now.

“C'mon, Kris,” Lee says softly, gesturing for Kris to follow him as he makes his way back to the field he was previously weeding. “Let's go and do some work, yeah? Just give the questioning a rest for now.”

Kris' shoulders slump in defeat as he grumbles but he doesn't hesitate to follow along, taking smaller steps so that he can keep pace with Lee as the younger boy skips along beside him. Suho stays back, still reeling a bit from Kris’ question earlier and his own thoughts. Kris seems to realise that Suho isn't following them and turns around to look at him with an eyebrow quirked, head tilted to the side as he waits for Suho to catch up to them.

But Suho doesn't budge. He swallows thickly as he gives Lee a pointed look before looking back at Kris.

“I'm going to go check on Sehun and Gray,” Suho informs him with a forced smile. “Make sure they aren't slacking off like they normally do. You stick with Lee, yeah? I'll come find you later.”

“Keep an eye on him,” Suho says to Lee. The younger boy nods enthusiastically, clapping Kris on the back before securing a firm hold on his wrist.

“I will,” Lee assures, understanding that Suho just needs to be away from Kris for a little while. Kris looks extremely fidgety beside Lee, eyes beseeching as he stares at Suho. Kris takes an unconscious step towards Suho but stops when Lee tugs on his arm, pulling him in the opposite direction. The guilt that floods Suho's system as he thinks about Chanyeol's confession earlier this morning is immediate. _“I don't like the way he looks at you”_ Chanyeol had said, and Suho understands what he meant now because he doesn't like the way the Greenie looks at him either.

There’s a familiarity in Kris’ gaze that should not be there, a gentle warmth that is only present when he looks at Suho. It makes his stomach flip uneasily because Suho is sure that he doesn't know Kris – couldn't know him from whatever came before the Maze. He refuses to believe that he knows him even if the tug he feels in his chest as he turns around and starts walking away from Kris tells him otherwise.  
  


Being away from the Greenie is a good idea at first; Sehun and Gray are loud and obnoxious, bickering back and forth as they bustle around Blood House tending to the livestock. It's entertaining for a while and Suho even chips in his own two cents from time to time but it starts getting annoying after a certain point. Suho can't understand how the two Slicers can be this carefree when he's over here worrying himself sick as he keeps glancing at the open doors in the far distance, noting with trepidation how Luhan and Chanyeol aren't back yet even if the Sun has already started its descent.  
  
Eventually, once he finds that he can barely focus on what he's doing anymore without snapping at the two youngsters, Suho decides to take a break and go find D.O, knowing that he would be the only one to take his concerns seriously.  
  
After some searching, Suho finds D.O lounging atop one of the watchtowers near the fight ring, looking bored as he stares out at the expanse of the Glade. Suho thinks about climbing up to join him but decides against it knowing that he won't be able to sit quiet for more than a few seconds. Instead he calls for D.O's attention and then gestures for the younger boy to come down.  
  
“There's still time,” is the first thing that D.O says to Suho as he comes to stand in front of him and Suho tries to pretend like that’s not what he wanted to talk to D.O about in the first place. “Don't worry.”  
  
Suho lets out a shaky exhale. He had hoped to make small talk with the younger boy in an attempt to distract himself but it seems like D.O knows exactly what’s bothering him and wants to get straight to the point. His worry is probably written all over his face already anyways so he can’t blame D.O for trying to comfort him.  
  
“I can't,” Suho says as he chews nervously on his bottom lip, voice quivering slightly. “They should have been back by now.”  
  
D.O furrows his thick brows, giving Suho a look that he doesn't have the energy to read into right now. Realistically, he knows that there's still a few hours left before the doors close for the night but Chanyeol and Luhan had just gone out to retrace Jay's steps, not actually map out the Maze, so they shouldn’t be taking this long. Unless…  
  
“Chanyeol ain't the Keeper of the Runners for nothing,” D.O says softly, but his tone is sure. “If anyone knows what they're doing out there, in the Maze, then it's him.”  
  
Suho knows that's true, he does, but Jay was a good Runner and look what happened to him. Brad was a good Runner too – _a good Keeper_ – and yet that wasn't enough. Chanyeol may be good, the best probably, but Suho knows that he sometimes suffers from his own bad days, just like everyone else here and the Maze, with its imposing walls and foreboding pathways, has a way of amplifying people’s fears.  
  
  
And Suho can’t help that whenever he thinks of Chanyeol he’s immediately reminded of the boy back when he first met him; brown eyes wide with fear and grimy face streaked with tears as he cowered in a corner of the Box, long legs curled awkwardly as he hugged them to his chest.  
  
  
By the time Chanyeol was sent up in the Box, Suho had already been in the Glade for over a year. It was somewhere around the fourth month after the incident and Suho used to spend the majority of his time back then either resting his still healing ankle or keeping stock of the inventory.  
  
Chanyeol hadn't been a special case; he was pretty much the same as every other Greenie, he cried as they helped him out of the Box and then fell to the ground and curled up into a ball as he sobbed into the dirt. Suho had found it amusing at first but he eventually took pity on him and tried his best to be a comforting presence to Chanyeol on that first day. Chanyeol had been quick to accept his comfort and then just refused to leave Suho's side after that. He'd been pretty quiet during his first week, sulking as he followed Suho around like a lost puppy while they tried to find out what job would be best for him. He didn't even ask many questions, just accepted everything that was told to him and did his share without complaint.  
  
Chanyeol had initially been chosen as a Builder (the choice surprisingly being made by Abe himself after he had watched Chanyeol work diligently and _silently_ while he was helping him one day), his lanky frame belying the strength and agility that he actually possessed. It’d been a good choice and Chanyeol had seemed content working as a Builder as well, dragging Suho along with him sometimes just so he could chat with him while he worked, until, of course, Brad took notice of him and suggested that Chanyeol would make a decent Runner if given the chance. Suho had opposed _vehemently_ to this suggestion stating that Chanyeol wasn't ready yet but the truth was that _he_ wasn't ready to let Chanyeol go out into the Maze yet – in just a few days the Greenie, with his bright smile and even brighter personality, had grown on Suho much more than he was willing to admit. But even if Suho said no, he wasn’t the leader back then and Brad was stubborn – speaking to Chanyeol even if Suho tried to stop him from doing so. Much to Suho’s displeasure, Chanyeol had seemed eager to be a Runner after listening to whatever it was that Brad told him.  
  
And that's how Chanyeol became a Runner.  
  
He had spent the first two weeks shadowing Brad, running out with the Keeper every morning and returning with him at dusk, looking grimy and tired but with a spark in his eyes that definitely hadn’t been there before. It took a few days – and Chanyeol insisting that he was going the fine and that nothing would happen to him – but Suho eventually made his peace with the fact that Chanyeol was a Runner and there was nothing he could do about it. By the time Brad had deemed Chanyeol ready to be left on his own in the Maze, a month had passed by and Chanyeol was already familiar with the different sections of the Maze, memorizing paths faster than anyone would have expected. He was a natural and hence he was also Brad’s favourite; the older Runner was always looking out for him, even if they weren’t running the Maze together anymore. Chanyeol had really looked up to Brad as well, considering the boy an older brother and also his best friend and their bond had only grown as the months passed by. Which is why Chanyeol had been the most affected when one day (almost three months after Chanyeol became a Runner) Brad didn’t make it back before the doors closed. Suho had had to order the others to lock him in the Slammer for the night because of the way he had been behaving, almost knocking Abe out when the other boy had tried to stop him from running out into the Maze to look for Brad. The next morning, Chanyeol had been the first person to run out into the Maze and the last to return, looking far more dejected than anyone had ever seen him as he staggered through the doors, shoulders hunched and face swollen from crying too much.  
  
This had gone on for almost a week and while the others knew that Brad wasn’t coming back, no one had the heart to tell Chanyeol to give up searching for his best friend, his _brother_. Suho had been the one who finally sat Chanyeol down and had gently informed him that Brad was gone and he wasn’t coming back again. Chanyeol hadn’t said anything but he had spent that night in Suho’s room crying himself to sleep as the older boy tried to console him. Eventually though, after a long discussion with the other Keepers, Suho and Luhan had decided that they had to choose a new Keeper for the Runners. Unsurprisingly, all the Keepers and Luhan had voted for Chanyeol to take up Brad’s spot (Suho had voted for Chanyeol too but only after a great deal of hesitation because he didn’t want to be accused of favoritism). Chanyeol had protested against the decision like everyone knew he would. He had been furious that they would even think of replacing Brad but after much urging from the other Runners, Chanyeol had reluctantly accepted the role of Keeper.

Suho wishes that Chanyeol didn’t have to go through that but at the same time when he thinks back on it now, losing Brad had taught Chanyeol an important fact about their life in the Glade; it was uncertain and no one was safe, especially not a Runner, no matter how good. Chanyeol had learnt to be a little more cautious after that, a little more vigilant. Losing Brad had also been what pushed Chanyeol and Suho together, the younger boy finding comfort and solace in the only other person he considered a close friend.

 

There are times when Suho really wishes that things had happened differently but he can't change the past – just like he can't change what happened with Jay. And just like he can't control what happens to Luhan and Chanyeol out there in the Maze today.

 

“Hey,” D.O calls out gently, fingers curling into his shoulder as he forces Suho to look into his wide eyes. “They'll make it back on time, okay? Don't worry.”

Suho nods, leaning a little into D.O's touch, seeking out comfort. He has no other choice to believe D.O's words for now, even if it's getting harder and harder to believe it.

  
  
So Suho waits, teetering between hope and fear as goes back to helping with work around the Glade, glancing up at the rapidly setting Sun with growing trepidation but forcing himself to hold it together. _For the others_ he tells himself, _be strong for the others._

But that proves to be exceptionally difficult when Chanyeol and Luhan don't return even as the sky overhead darkens at an alarming pace, dusk approaching them much sooner than they would all like.

“Something's wrong,” Tao says to the group of Gladers gathered by the open doors, staring out into the Maze, waiting for the two boys to return. “They should've been back by now.”

Suho swallows down his anxiousness, not tearing his eyes away from the empty path of the Maze he’s staring at.

“They’ll be back,” he says, sounding confident as he says that even if he doesn't really feel that way. “Any second now, they'll be back.”

Abe huffs a frustrated breath from where he's sitting on the ground beside Xiumin, wringing his fingers together nervously. Lee shakes his head as he comes up to stand beside Suho, looking scared as he glances at him.

“Can't we send someone after them?” Kris asks as he comes up to stand on Suho's right, scuffing his boots against the dirt.

“It's against the rules,” Abe says, sounding scared for the first time in a long time. “Either the make it back or they don't.”

Kris curses under his breath and looks at Suho with wide, worried, eyes, almost like he's asking him to refute what Abe just said but Suho shakes his head, squeezing his eyes shut as he leans heavily on his right foot. _Either they make it back or they don't._

“They'll make it back,” he whispers to himself, staring at through the doors at the darkness of the Maze. They have to make it back.

There's a sudden rumbling that stares all of them and Suho flinches as he hears the familiar grating sound of the heavy concrete door sliding closed. Fear, icy and incapacitating, flows throws Suho's veins as he glances at the doors, steadily sliding shut even if there's still no sign of Chanyeol and Luhan.

“No. No no no, this can't be,” D.O's panicked voice calls out from somewhere behind him. Suho shuffles forward on shaky feet, keeping his eyes trained straight ahead, hoping against all hope to see Chanyeol and Luhan round the corner any minute now. He can feel his chest constricting, his breaths getting heavier, _labored_ , as raw panic claws at his throat. Chanyeol can't leave him here, he has to make it back. Suho needs him to make it back no matter what. _He needs him_.

The other boys seem panicked as well, fidgeting on their feet as they keep an eye out for either one of the two boys that they're waiting for. Lee shuffles closer to D.O, the latter looking close to tears even as his face remains impassive, and Suho feels a twinge of sympathy and guilt as he looks at him, knowing that Chanyeol is D.O's closest friend here in the Glade.

He turns around to face D.O as he takes a small step towards the other boy, reaching his arms out as if to offer comfort, but Kai's voice cuts through the rumble of the slowly closing gates and freezes him in place.

“Look!” The young Builder yells frantically as he points at something beyond the doors and Suho snaps his head around to look at what he's pointing at. “I can see them! It's Luhan and Chanyeol!”

And sure enough, in the far distance Suho can make out the forms of Chanyeol and Luhan, stumbling over their own feet as they make for the safety of the Glade.

The relief that floods him is swift and dizzying and Suho's heart threatens to beat out of his chest when he catches sight of Chanyeol, looking worse for wear but still alive. His relief however, is short lived.

“Something's wrong,” Lee points out, voice trembling. “Something's wrong with Luhan. Something's wrong with him!”

It's as Lee says this that Suho notices it; Luhan is clearly unconscious, Chanyeol bearing the brunt of his weight as he drags Luhan along beside him, clearly winded but no less determined to get the both of them back. But Lee is right, Luhan is dead weight right now and Chanyeol is moving way too slowly to make it through the doors on time.

Chanyeol's right there in front of him but he isn't going to make it. He's so close yet so far.

Almost unconsciously, Suho makes a move towards the closing doors but there's a grip on the back of his shirt before he can get very far, firm and unyielding even as Suho struggles with all his might against it.  
  
"Suho," D.O's voice whispers in his ear, a warning as much as it is a plea to not do anything stupid. Suho chokes on a sob as he struggles, eyes filling as he watches Chanyeol struggle.  
  
"They're not going to make it," Tao says what everyone else is thinking, his voice mirroring the helplessness that is reflected on the faces of the others.

“He has to leave Luhan,” Abe says, as he runs his hands through his cropped hair, eyes wild and desperate. “He has to leave Luhan or he isn’t going to make it back.”

Suho fights against D.O’s hold, feeling disgust coil along his  insides as Abe's words reach his ears. He knows what Abe is saying is logical but how can he choose between his best friend and the one he loves?

" _Chanyeol_!" Sehun takes a step forward, cupping his hand around his mouth to make sure his voice carries over the deafening rumble of the closing doors and into the Maze. "Chanyeol, leave him! You have to leave him. Leave him and run. You can make it! _Run_!”  
  
Suho shakes his head, looking at Chanyeol who still refuses to leave Luhan behind despite all the others shouting at him to do so. He refuses to leave him behind even if by now he has to know that if he doesn't, he isn't going to make it back. Suho feels very conflicted as he watches Chanyeol stumble, almost losing his balance before he rights himself and pushes forward again, tightening his hold on Luhan's waist.

But they aren't going to make it. They're too far and Suho can tell from the way Chanyeol's dragging Luhan along that he's struggling to move any faster. The others probably know this as well but they still follow Sehun's lead, yelling encouragements in the hopes that it'll somehow, by some miracle, give Chanyeol that added burst of adrenaline he needs to help him make it through the doors on time.

Judging by the look on Chanyeol's face though, he knows as well as everyone else that he isn't going to make it back.  
  
Suho makes a strangled noise in the back of his throat, a whimper that could almost be Chanyeol's name. He jerks forward, feet moving almost in a trance as he watches the look of resignation that settles over Chanyeol's features, the way his shoulders slump in defeat.  
  
" _Don't_ ," D.O warns again, voice cracking as he yanks Suho back by the grip he still has on his shirt. "Don't be stupid."  
  
"Please," Suho whispers, _begs_ , as he struggles against D.O's hold. His body jerks forward again, feet scuffling against the dirt as the gap between the doors steadily decreases and Chanyeol and Luhan are no closer than they were before.  
  
Amidst all the commotion around them, Chanyeol's eyes find Suho's. He makes a face, almost pained, and shakes his head slightly, mouth curving downwards in distress.

_He isn't going to make it._

"No," Suho chokes out, tears falling as he struggles with renewed strength against D.O's firm grip. " _No_."  
  
There's sudden movement from besides him that drags his attention away unwillingly and Suho cranes his neck up to look into the Greenie's eyes, as wild and panicked as his own but also strangely resolute. It takes him a second too long to realize what that look means.  
  
With the way everyone's attention is fixed on Chanyeol and Luhan at the moment, no one notices Kris until it's too late.  
  
Suho's hand shoots out to grab onto Kris' arm just as he turns around to face the doors but D.O's hold still hasn't let up and Suho ends up falling onto his knees when he tugs him back again, arm outstretched, fingers grazing the Greenie's arm as he darts forward. Kris' long legs are certainly an advantage at this time as he sprints towards the closing doors, so quick and sudden that he manages to slip through the grasp of Tao as the Runner realizes what he's attempting and tries to pull him back before it too late.  
  
But it is too late, and Suho feels a fresh wave of panic and desperation and fear as he shoots up to his feet again, watching Kris' back disappear through the narrow opening in the doors, pushing his way through to the other side to get to Chanyeol and Luhan amidst the startled cries of the other Gladers.  
  
No one has ever willing submitted themselves to spending a night in the maze, especially a Greenie, and as the leader, Suho can't help but feel responsible for Kris' decision.  
  
The last thing Suho registers seeing in his panicked haze, ears ringing with the cries of the others and the way his own pulse beats heavily against his eardrums, is the look on Chanyeol's face over Kris' hunched shoulders; a mixture of shock and desperation as he looks at Kris stumbling through the closing doors. And then the doors close for good and seal off the three of them away from the safety of the Glade.  
  
Suho feels his heart sink to the bottom of his stomach.  
  
"What the _shuck_ did that Greenie just do?" D.O yells, incredulous, finally letting go of Suho's shirt to run his hands through his choppy hair.  
  
Suho wants to answer. He knows that he needs to say something to the Gladers gathered around the closed doors. As a leader and as a friend, he knows it's his duty to offer them some false comfort but he can't. Not when he's falling apart himself. Not when he's just lost Chanyeol – and Luhan – to the Maze.  
  
  
Not when no one has _ever_ survived a night in the Maze before.


End file.
